HOW THE DEMOCRATS CAN WIN BIG IN NOVEMBER

[Demeter]

http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_allen_l__060518_how_the_democrats_ca.htm

HOW THE DEMOCRATS CAN WIN BIG IN NOVEMBER
Once Democrats switch their story from 'mob at the gates' to 'rot at the top' ~ then the debate will change and victory will follow .
by Allen L Roland




This description from Democracy Arsenal, and written by Jeffrey Feldman, is a good synopsis of Reich's point:

" Robert Reich has an interesting piece in this week's New Republic where he talks about the need for progressives to reclaim the four basic narratives that have defined American politics: The two hopeful variants are the Triumphant Individual (a la Horatio Alger and Erin Brockovich) and the Benevolent Community (barn raisers and It's a Wonderful Life). The flip-side are two fearsome parables: The Mob at the Gates (everything from Nazi Germany to Invasion of the Body Snatchers) and the Rot at the Top (from the robber barons to the latest accounting scandals)."


In our current political moment, every single political issue is being dominated by a Republican version of the 'mob at the gates' story. And every decision we are making as Americans is based on how we see ourselves relative to the 'plot' in the story. The alternative to the Republican 'mob at the gates' story is for Democrats to drive the debate into a 'rot at the top' story.

To understand what this looks like, consider the following recent debates in terms of 'story' and 'plot' from the perspective of these two stories:

IMMIGRATION

"Mob at the Gates" - America faces danger: hoardes of immigrants crossing our open borders. To protect ourselves from this danger: send troops to the border, build a wall.

"Rot at the Top" - America faces danger: greedy and corrupt leaders in America and Mexico are breaking the law, creating problems by luring workers across the southern border. To protect ourselves from this danger: confront business leaders and politicians who take advantage of poor workers in Latin America, break labor laws in the United States, and undermine the hard-working Middle Class.

SECURITY

"Mob at the Gates" - America faces danger: terrorists everywhere are trying to get into America to destroy our cities and kill our citizens. To protect ourselves from this danger: attack and kill the terrorists before they can leave.

"Rot at the Top" - America faces danger: Massive wealth accumulated in the hands of a greedy few at the top in the Middle East has led to deep anger and frustration towards the West. To protect ourselves from this danger: work for global equality and cooperation to eliminate radical economic injustice, smart growth and development, and creating new allies through long term fair investment and cooperation.


MORE EXAMPLES FOLLOW
www.allenroland.com

Allen L Roland is a practicing psychotherapist, author and lecturer who also shares a daily political and social commentary on his weblog and website allenroland.com He also guest hosts a monthly national radio show TRUTHTALK on Conscious talk radio www.conscioustalk.net

[Jackpine Radical]

1. God, I like this.

[BeFree]

2. Rot at the top. indeed

A handful of wealthy private corporations are in total control of the vote. They subscribe to the Stalin theory of: its not who votes, the matter of who runs the country is up to who counts the votes. These wealthy corporations, have taken democracy away from the masses and delivered it to just a few.

[AX10]

3. KICK

[yurbud]

4. astonishingly well done.

[bklyncowgirl]

5. Great stuff but as long as Dems get their $ from the rich it won't happen

This is a narrative that could work and work very well if the American people get to hear it, but it's a story that the current Democratic Party, except for a few honorable and courageous individuals, is not going to tell.

Corporations will not take this sitting down. For example alot of people believe that Howard Dean's downfall in the Presidential primary campeign began when he said the unthinkable--that media conglamorates should be broken up. Almost overnight the story on Dean changed from "Fiery Populist energizes Democrats" to "Loose Cannon Worries Democrats" with daily doses of Dean verbal gaffes. That's not to say that Howard Dean does not suffer from occaisional brain to mouth disconnect--he does--but the emphasis changed and for better or for worse Dean lost the nomination in spectacular fashion.

With the possible exception of Russ Feingold I can't see any of the current crop of Democratic presidential contenders going with that narrative. I'd love to see it though, boy would I love to see it.